Is it still alive?

[Mokkagili]

Hi everyone.
We just moved into this property abd random eggs kept showing up in random places like driveway, stone deco and under the tree. We often have mallard ducks and paradise shelducks visiting the pond nearby. We picked up 4 eggs in total at different week during last 30 days. We didnt think much when we 1st start so only using homemade incubator. Manual temp check only. Attached pic is egg#1. I boosted up the humidity and did the candling on day 25 it was still moving but on day 28 it didnt hatch so i did the candling and water test.. It was still moving but not as active. I noticed that on day 25 the air cell still relatively small comparing to other info i got from this site.. And day 30 morning the temp on egg#1 dropped to 36.6C while other eggs are nearly 38C. My heart sunk when i see Egg#1 no movement when i candle it, i found 2 tiny holes (circled in green) on the smaller end of egg.. What are those? Is the chick not developed in time? Is it because i add more water to boost up the humidity? Did water goes in thru the tiny holes when i did the water test?
Im so sad i still have 3 eggs going at different days now i feel like their hope has just diminished and will ended up the same.
Please see photos.. Is it still alive? What possibly gone wrong?? Im so sad that i might have caused it..

 

[SmiYa0126]

@BelovedBirds @New duck mommy 2021 can you help?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Hi everyone.
We just moved into this property abd random eggs kept showing up in random places like driveway, stone deco and under the tree. We often have mallard ducks and paradise shelducks visiting the pond nearby. We picked up 4 eggs in total at different week during last 30 days. We didnt think much when we 1st start so only using homemade incubator. Manual temp check only. Attached pic is egg#1. I boosted up the humidity and did the candling on day 25 it was still moving but on day 28 it didnt hatch so i did the candling and water test.. It was still moving but not as active. I noticed that on day 25 the air cell still relatively small comparing to other info i got from this site.. And day 30 morning the temp on egg#1 dropped to 36.6C while other eggs are nearly 38C. My heart sunk when i see Egg#1 no movement when i candle it, i found 2 tiny holes (circled in green) on the smaller end of egg.. What are those? Is the chick not developed in time? Is it because i add more water to boost up the humidity? Did water goes in thru the tiny holes when i did the water test?
Im so sad i still have 3 eggs going at different days now i feel like their hope has just diminished and will ended up the same.
Please see photos.. Is it still alive? What possibly gone wrong?? Im so sad that i might have caused it..

Hi!
are these photos all egg 1?
So unfortunately it doesnt look good to me, it looks like baby has passed, there are some veins in a couple photos but it looks to me like they're breaking down. Is there any movement? Any bad smell coming from the egg?
Water testing should only be a very last resort, it isnt unusual for eggs to hatch later. What did you find when you did the water test though, and the candle? Did you see any movement from the egg/baby inside?

I dont think you caused this, but circumstances weren't ideal either- did you use a calibrated thermometer? Are the other eggs showing any movement, any veins? We all make mistakes when trying to hatch, don't beat yourself up if you did make a couple.

On another note, mallard eggs are usually protected, so it is not a good idea to simply take them- it is likely illegal to do so.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I agree with @BelovedBirds
It doesn’t look good
If you aren’t seeing movement it may have passed

 

[Mokkagili]

Hi!
are these photos all egg 1?
So unfortunately it doesnt look good to me, it looks like baby has passed, there are some veins in a couple photos but it looks to me like they're breaking down. Is there any movement? Any bad smell coming from the egg?
Water testing should only be a very last resort, it isnt unusual for eggs to hatch later. What did you find when you did the water test though, and the candle? Did you see any movement from the egg/baby inside?

I dont think you caused this, but circumstances weren't ideal either- did you use a calibrated thermometer? Are the other eggs showing any movement, any veins? We all make mistakes when trying to hatch, don't beat yourself up if you did make a couple.

On another note, mallard eggs are usually protected, so it is not a good idea to simply take them- it is likely illegal to do so.

Thank you for your advice.
We are in New Zealand and Mallard ducks are not protected here so it's ok

Yes those photos are all Egg1. I couldnt see any movement and in fact after I saw the replies I went ahead and smell the egg and yikes! It's definitely passed. I remember the water test on day 25 it was fine 80% in water. But on day 28 the egg actually 95% in water. What puzzles me are the tiny holes I found on day 30. Could the holes already there on day 25 I probably missed it and the water gone in, that's why it sinked more on day 28 ??

We have added another thermometer and humidity meter. The humidity was way too high if there were no pip.. Now i have learned. Its winter in New Zealand and rain most days, should have count these factors in too.

Now i have got other 2 eggs going into lockdown tomorrow and humidity around 50-55% is that ok? But their air cell still small and high up like egg1. Just candled the eggs all have movements but 1 of the smaller egg has tiny movement only I'm worried. Should i lower the humidity? What else should i do?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Thank you for your advice.
We are in New Zealand and Mallard ducks are not protected here so it's ok

Yes those photos are all Egg1. I couldnt see any movement and in fact after I saw the replies I went ahead and smell the egg and yikes! It's definitely passed. I remember the water test on day 25 it was fine 80% in water. But on day 28 the egg actually 95% in water. What puzzles me are the tiny holes I found on day 30. Could the holes already there on day 25 I probably missed it and the water gone in, that's why it sinked more on day 28 ??

We have added another thermometer and humidity meter. The humidity was way too high if there were no pip.. Now i have learned. Its winter in New Zealand and rain most days, should have count these factors in too.

Now i have got other 2 eggs going into lockdown tomorrow and humidity around 50-55% is that ok? But their air cell still small and high up like egg1. Just candled the eggs all have movements but 1 of the smaller egg has tiny movement only I'm worried. Should i lower the humidity? What else should i do?

can you get photos of the remaining eggs being candled so we can see the air cells? High humidity can prevent the eggs from losing enough moisture which can be dangerous.
I definitely reccomend not using water tests in future, it is only supposed to be a very last resort if all other signs indicate death. If done often, or improperly/unnecessarily, it can introduce bacteria to the egg. I'm not sure about the holes that were there, it may have been due to the egg rotting, or perhaps just some kind of calcium deposits in the shell.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

If there were these holes then the water test likely killed them. Stick to candling.

 

[Mokkagili]

can you get photos of the remaining eggs being candled so we can see the air cells? High humidity can prevent the eggs from losing enough moisture which can be dangerous.
I definitely reccomend not using water tests in future, it is only supposed to be a very last resort if all other signs indicate death. If done often, or improperly/unnecessarily, it can introduce bacteria to the egg. I'm not sure about the holes that were there, it may have been due to the egg rotting, or perhaps just some kind of calcium deposits in the shell.

Yes please see attached photos. I have wiped down the incubator with sanitizer in case egg 1 was bacterial infected. Now i have 2 eggs (egg#2 #3)going into lockdown - definitely still have movements! And the youngest one's (egg#4) due date is 31 Aug..
You'll see the 1st 2 photos, that egg is actually smaller than the others but still got movement when i candle it just now. Would smaller eggs of the same breed has lower hatching rate?
Today's humidity dropped to 40% coz today is sunny day like summer... Argh we have 4 seasons in 1 day

 

[Mokkagili]

If there were these holes then the water test likely killed them. Stick to candling.

Yes i agree. Today we said goodbye and did the eggtopsy.. It looked quite developed probably few more days to go. The kids and I were all devastated. I had a little cry myself. Lesson learned never water test until absolute had to.. And check for holes

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Yes i agree. Today we said goodbye and did the eggtopsy.. It looked quite developed probably few more days to go. The kids and I were all devastated. I had a little cry myself. Lesson learned never water test until absolute had to.. And check for holes

It's horrible and my bluntness isn't meant to be rudeness, just putting it simply. The truth is we all learn things like this in ways such as these and they are heartbreaking. The best we can do is make sure we never make that same mistake again. Really sorry you went through this.